Letter to the Editor from Dr. Denny Ryman
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Perspectives
I welcome the opportunity to share with Mr. Morgan and with the community the many services the University provides to the citizens of Northeast Louisiana. The faculty and students that staff our clinics take great pride in enhancing the quality of life of the many hundreds of clients and patients that we treat annually.
ULM has a long and distinguished record of providing exceptional educational experiences to our students, which includes unique opportunities to apply their developing skills to the betterment of their fellow local citizens. These student-patient interactions take place in our Speech and Hearing Clinic, Dental Hygiene Clinic, Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic, Substance Abuse Clinic, and also occur in grant funded studies in breast cancer, diabetes, weight loss, and a variety of other diseases.
We live in a region of the country with historically high mortality and morbidity rates. The federal government classifies our region as poor and medically under-served. I am personally saddened by the ever increasing number of citizens that lack even the most basic of medical and dental care. Due to recent job losses and the declining economy, these numbers will only increase. Therefore, it is imperative not only to continue to operate our clinics but to expand, which will be exceedingly difficult to accomplish in the current budget environment.
I grew up in the Appalachia region of Virginia, an area that is also poor and medically under-served. Although I was fortunate enough to have dental and medical care, many of my neighbors could not afford medical care or the expense of traveling long distances to seek treatment. I remember 30 years ago, regional universities from Virginia and West Virginia started to open health clinics in our rural mountain communities and, yes, a mobile dental unit from the Medical College of Virginia began offering basic dental care to area residents. Today in most of Appalachia, medical and dental care is not the problem of years past.
ULM has a long and distinguished record of providing exceptional educational experiences to our students, which includes unique opportunities to apply their developing skills to the betterment of their fellow local citizens. These student-patient interactions take place in our Speech and Hearing Clinic, Dental Hygiene Clinic, Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic, Substance Abuse Clinic, and also occur in grant funded studies in breast cancer, diabetes, weight loss, and a variety of other diseases.
We live in a region of the country with historically high mortality and morbidity rates. The federal government classifies our region as poor and medically under-served. I am personally saddened by the ever increasing number of citizens that lack even the most basic of medical and dental care. Due to recent job losses and the declining economy, these numbers will only increase. Therefore, it is imperative not only to continue to operate our clinics but to expand, which will be exceedingly difficult to accomplish in the current budget environment.
I grew up in the Appalachia region of Virginia, an area that is also poor and medically under-served. Although I was fortunate enough to have dental and medical care, many of my neighbors could not afford medical care or the expense of traveling long distances to seek treatment. I remember 30 years ago, regional universities from Virginia and West Virginia started to open health clinics in our rural mountain communities and, yes, a mobile dental unit from the Medical College of Virginia began offering basic dental care to area residents. Today in most of Appalachia, medical and dental care is not the problem of years past.
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